


Star-Cursed Mother

by cymrymira



Series: The Adventures of Kit and Leona and a Few Other Friends! [21]
Category: Original characters - Fandom, World of Warcraft
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-07
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-10-06 02:46:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17337239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cymrymira/pseuds/cymrymira
Summary: In another universe, in another life, Leona's mother survived the dragon hunters and made her way to Umbric's group on a dark quest after hiding her eggs...





	1. Maya

**Author's Note:**

> Maya can be found on Moonguard Alliance side!

What a  _wonderful_  thing to be this near to home.  
  
What a  _terrible_  thing to be this near to home.  
  
The air outside was as crisp as she remembered, peppered with scents of spring, the voices of animals waking from their slumber, the earth waking up from it’s long frozen nap.  
  
The last made her pause, when did she start hearing stone?  
  
It wasn’t much, a voice here and there, and she took a deep breath as she touched her abdomen,“They would have been your friends, wouldn’t they? Just like the animals are mine?” **  
 _  
“Brother I can save them! I can save all the children we lost… that Mother Alex…”_**

**_“Don’t say her name! Don’t call me brother! You chose… chose to be with the Obsidian, then you will die with them! And any eggs that you have will be smashed!”  
_**  
She frowned at the memory, walking quickly through Stormwind to the underground train, if she were recognized…  
  
But it seemed that the void did it’s job, soon she was quickly walking through Ironforge and on a gryphon, and not once was she stopped to talked to.  
  
It would be so easy, she could go to the Highlands…  
  
But she would not be welcome there.  
  
She would pass by quietly, with only a glance given to the place she once called home. Mayastrasza was once welcomed there as a handmaiden, Mayaina would never be.  
  
 _I’m still a Ruby. Even if I am changed.  
_  
It was battered and beaten that she made her way to the Ghostlands to be found by Umbric. He nursed her back to health and she listened to him on his research, made the decision to help… it mirrored what she wanted to do herself.  
  
To save the children…  
  
There were none in that rift they researched in, when they changed and Alleria invited them to the Alliance, she had nearly cried when she stepped foot in Stormwind and saw the first baby.  
  
 _Did I hide your eggs well enough? Are you safe?  
_  
She couldn’t go and look, not yet, she’d be putting her children in danger. It would take some time.  
  
 _If you were allowed to hatch when I first had you, you would have been thirteen in January. Had it really been that long since I went to Umbric’s camp, since your father…  
_  
 ** _“Maya, I want you to run.”_** ** __  
**  
She wouldn’t cry. Not now. Not for the last sane moment they had together. And she couldn’t afford to cry for their children. Not until she could go to them and tell them it was a safer world.  
 **  
**“I will save you. Even if I have to destroy myself.”

 


	2. Dustwallow Marsh

Dustwallow Marsh was still as grim as she remembered it being, and the absence of Theramore only made things much worse.  
  
She could only stare when she made her way there, fighting away panic with both hands until she could get to the hiding place, swimming for what seemed like hours until she reached the shipwreck that had been picked dry of any actual treasure so long ago that no one ever noticed it anymore.  
  
Thirteen years ago she had enchanted a treasure chest and placed it in the wreckage, then added so many more protective spells so that only she or her beloved could retrieve it.  
  
It was still sealed, and she paused for a moment, undoing the magic and calling it back to herself, frowning as it seemed to only feed the shadows running through her veins, and then opened the chest, smiling for a brief second before reaching for the three eggs.  
  
It was dangerous here, the Old Gods…  
  
Maya hugged the eggs to herself as she carefully transferred them to the bag slinged across her shoulder, and then swam back to the surface, gasping for air as she climbed back into her little boat,“I don’t have full control of these shadows yet,” she whispered as she looked at the scales on the back of her hand change from ruby to shimmering obsidian, then shook them away to fully go back to her disguise, “I was corrupted before when he gave me his mark, but… now…”  
  
She shook her head. Umbric’s research was to control the Void, to use it as a tool without falling to the corruption. They had to stay sane and out of the influence of the voices… and she could tell the difference. Before the Betrayal, she had started to hear them, now there was nothing.  
    
…it wouldn’t last.  
  
“I won’t hide you again,” she said quietly, “You’ve been alone down there too long, and I know you remember it. I don’t know when I can hatch you, but at least you can be in the world,” she kissed the top of the eggs, “I’ll add any pretty gems I see in there,” she whispered, “It can work as a cave for now, it’s enchanted to hold so much…”

She placed the bag in her lap and rowed to the shore, “I need to know the damage your father’s grandfather did to this world. I’ve been away from it nearly as long as you’ve been at the bottom of that shipwreck. Once I assess the safest place, we’ll know where you can hatch. Even if we have to go to another world to do it.” **  
**  
Was she being selfish?  
  
It was maddening to think that she should reseal her eggs, that it was best to walk away again. That as soon as the children hatched, the Old Gods would…  
  
Or perhaps they  _already_  had been speaking to them, seeping in the last thirteen years.  
  
She’d have to return to Telogrus Rift to inspect it carefully, she didn’t trust the shadows in her, but there was a quarantined place there, one Umbric had personally overseen. From there… she didn’t know. Could she change her child as she and the ren’dorei had been changed?  
  
Maya frowned. That was the place where she had woken up, where she was kept secret from the others as she studied and gained control over her disguises. Scrunching her nose in thought, she traced her fingers against a scar that should have killed her had Umbric’s researchers not found her.  
  
_How did I survive?_  
  
_Does it matter? I’m here now, our children are here…_  
  
She took a deep breath, closing the bag as she did so, then stood and pulled the boat ashore.  
  
“I’ll get those years back for us,” she promised softly, then summoned a familiar of shadow and arcane for added protection as she made her way to Mudsprocket.


	3. Family and Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The names here have meaning, Gonen and Tarkar both mean protector, and Leda means happy.

****

It was after the sword fell that she came here, quietly learning from the Pandaren ways to find her inner balance, to control the void that had twisted her. She did not know why she was with Umbric’s group, didn’t understand much of this world.

Once she traveled a bit to see the damage she had missed in the nether realm that their research was being done in, she retrieved her eggs, pleased to find that all three of them were exactly where she had hidden them. She could not hatch them, not yet… it wasn’t safe.

In the Valley of the Winds, she hid. Making her home among the Tillers and setting up a small farm, she would stay far away from the incoming War, from the other dragons, from the Wound that was begging for help that she could not give. Her grief and her joy were intertwined. Sever was long gone, he had died to protect all of them… yet her children were all safe.

Was it selfish to want to keep them from hatching just a little bit longer? To keep them protected and safe until she was certain that nothing would hurt them?

Maya couldn’t answer. Couldn’t explain how that made her better than her brother when he kept her sheltered for all those years.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow she’d hatch their eggs. Until then, she’d sing to them, listen to the three talk of exploring the world and going on adventures. There was time for all of this. They’d come into the world the next day.

She told herself that every day for months, until the day her hand was forced.

It happened as she was leaving Halfhill, trying to beat the storm home. The earth shook, and she recognized the voices that Sever had taught her to listen to, her eyes widening as she realized that the stones were calling. And then she was running, leaving her cart, and transforming into the star-cursed red drake in mid-step, then flying to the farm that she called home, to the place where she had hidden the eggs.

Azerite had erupted from the ground deep below, and there were elementals starting to roam the fissure as the gold blood of the earth was spilling over. The farm and house were both gone, and in their place…  
  
Maya turned back to her elf form as she landed, staring quietly at the three dark haired children, two boys and one girl, all three looking to be twelve years of age, all three looking a bit confused, as if just discovering how big the world really was.

To be fair… They truly had no idea before now.

“Mama!” the girl said cheerfully, “Brothers, she’s back!” and then Maya found herself hugging all three tightly and wondering what it was that she was so afraid of.

“Shush now, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” she whispered, “Gonen, Tarak, Leda… can you ever forgive me?”

“Course we do Mama,” all three chorused, and then they jumped at the roar of a particularly loud elemental.

“…We have a duty to Azeroth,” Maya said quietly, then smiled, “Alright, you three go whelpling, let me take care of this.”

“Mama you’re not the right sort of dragon,” the eldest brother pointed out, “They’re not going to listen to you. They don’t listen to Little Brother either, just me and Sister.”

“Your father gave me  _some_  skill,” she ruffled his hair, brushing the streak of red behind his ear with the black, “You and Leda be ready, just in case, but stay behind me. We must close up this fissure before any more damage is done to the people that live in this Valley.”

“…yes Mama,” he said, then took his sister’s hand, both changing to their whelpling form, both black scaled dragons, though each had a pattern of red scales, hers in a small patch where her neck met her chest, his like the streak of red in his hair, a line that started on the left side of his face and twirled to the tip of his tail. Their brother changed as well, going to clumsily fly and land on their Mama’s shoulder as the two stayed on the ground. Unlike those two, his scales were red, with only a line of black, just like his brother’s, just on the right side.   
  
Maya tried. She really did, but she had to admit that Gonen was right. She couldn’t close the fissure or calm the elements down.   
  
“Children, now,” she said quietly, later there would be time for her apology, “Tarkar, we heal when the fissure is closed.”  
  
“Yes Mama,” he said quietly as Gonen and Leda stepped forward, placing their small paws on the earth in front of them and whispering.

It was all over in a moment, and Maya could never remember Sever controlling his elements  _that_ quickly.

_But when did he ever try to protect his Flight’s domain?_

Before she could examine that thought, a cheering broke out, and confused, the children switched back to their elf form as all four of them turned to see the small group of Pandaren that had come rushing to aid Maya with her destroyed farm.

Tarkar hugged her waist as Gonen took his hand and Leda stepped in front of all of them with hands on her hips. Maya placed a calming palm on her daughter’s shoulder, taking a deep breath before speaking.  
  
“…I… suppose my secret is out.”  
  
“If we known you had children, we’d have given you more food that first night you came,” Nana Mudpaw said as she pushed forward, “And had we known that you were dragons, we’d have ensured that you had more meat when you came to trade. Now young Maya, you have been working this small patch by yourself. It’s a shame, that house got destroyed, but what are neighbors for after all?” she clapped her hands, “Alright everyone, let’s get to work. Farmer Yoon! These four will stay at your place until their farm is fixed.”  
  
“Mama, if those fissures are opening up…” Leda glanced up at her, “Aren’t we supposed to help everyone?”

Maya took a deep breath, then smiled sadly, “Thank you Nana, everyone… but… I believe it’s time we moved from the Valley. I promised them that they’d get to see the world a bit.”  
  
The group looked a bit put out, and Nana smiled, “Good. Then we’ll have time to fix up the farm before you get back home,” she laughed, “Not everyday a family of dragons decide to try their hand at farm life. And those berries you grew were the best I ever had! Your place will be waiting for you kids, just keep in touch, y’hear me!”  
  
“Yes Nana,” the four chorused, and then squeaked as they were gathered in several bear hugs as the Tillers came forward.  
  
 _“You saved our Valley!”_  
  
Maya’s smile became more real as the night went on, an insistence on a going away party and packing supplies becoming more an order from the elder of the Tillers, and it would end up being another week before they parted, and one journey that she was sad to take.

_Sever, they welcomed us. If you had lived, we’d been all home together._

“MAMA! Look at that ship!”  
  
Leda’s words broke her out of her thoughts, and she was brought back to the present, standing in Stormwind’s harbor, about to board the boat to go to Kul Tiras. Gonen had said that a lot of Azeroth’s pain was coming from that way, something felt like it was trying to get out.

“It’s huge Sister!” Tarkar said excitedly, “Do you think they’ll let us explore it!”  
  
“I wanna! Look at the sails! Mama, Big Brother, isn’t it the prettiest!”  
  
“You got  _weird_ ideas of pretty Sis,” Gonen stuck out his tongue, “Ships aren’t pretty! They’re ships!”  
  
Maya giggled, “They can be pretty Gon,” she said gently, “Leda thinks so, and that’s enough. And Tar, we’ll have to see… you three have lessons, remember?”   
  
“…Mama, do we have to learn how to…”  
  
“Yes,” she smiled at her middle son, “You have a gift for healing that I once did, and Gon does well spells, and Leda is a natural fighter. Not to mention, all sorts of things normal children your age do, going to school, making friends. It won’t all be saving the world, and after this, hopefully it won’t  _have_  to be.”  
  
The three grinned at her, and the brothers took her hands as Leda happily led them onto the gangplank of the ship.

It was incredibly dangerous, the Horde and Alliance were now at war. There was the very real danger of the fissures of Azerite opening up, the island nation they were heading towards was unknown to Maya… and rumors had reached her of possible dragon involvement and manipulation.   
  
Hand in hand, the Duskheart family went towards the new adventure, far more thrilled than worried over the idea of a grand adventure.

“Mama… do you think we’ll make any  _friends_?”


	4. Skillset

“Alright,” Maya was kneeling at the pot of soil in their cabin, “Can you all see?”  
  
The three children nodded as she dug a small hole, “This is a basic test that the Ruby flight does to test power. Granted, our flight speaks to animals as well, life is our domain. Your father was an Obsidian, which was the domain of earth. We’re just looking to see which you three have more than the other,” she held her hand out to the eldest brother, “Gonen, you first. You have the feeling of a mage, but I want to see what sort.”

He nodded, then took the seed she held out to him and closed his eyes in concentration, then placed it into the ground and covered it up with his hands. Taking another deep breath he concentrated on channeling energy to it.

  
“It sprouted!” Leda said excitedly at the tiny shoot of green that came out, “So Big Brother’s good with life, right?”  
  
“Let’s see,” Maya studied the plant, “Hrmm. Seems like you’d make an excellent gardener dear, when we return to the Valley, we’ll work on learning things from the Tillers. But here, see?”she pointed to the edges of the shoots, “You’ve got a good deal of your father’s magic too, sadly Leda is incorrect,” she smiled gently up at her daughter, “But your brother is showing great promise. You have control over fire and earth it seems Gon. Or will with study. The lifeblood of Azeroth seems to rather like you as well.”

“You can tell all that from one shoot?” he asked with wide eyes and she nodded.

“See how the shoot is green, but here, there are little bits of running color?” he glanced at where she had pointed, blinking at the little lines of flame and the glow of azerite tendrils that were wrapped around the shoot, “As for earth, how quickly it grew. The soil is willing to care for it because of you,” she whispered a few words and cleared the soil with a passing over her hand, “Tarkar, your turn, here’s your seed.”  
  
Both his brother and sister jumped as flowers burst forth from the ground nearly as soon as he had touched it, and Maya smiled broadly, “Oh! Now Leda, this is what someone skilled with Life will do with their seed! Tar, you have a great gift as a healer!”  
  
“I do?”  
  
“That’s really cool Little Brother!” Leda said happily as she and Gon leaned closer, “Those are really pretty too!”  
  
“Almost as pretty as Mama,” Gon agreed, “And… Oh! Mama, he has some fire too! Look!”  
  
“And azerite’s all in his stuff too,” Leda added, “I see it there.”  
  
“Probably because you three hatched in a pool of it,” Maya scrunched her nose in thought, “It seems to boost power… probably because it is part of Azeroth. Tar, you’ll make a good farmer as well, when we return to it, but I think perhaps you should learn to make medicines with herbs that we can grow.”

“Okay Mama,” he smiled, then glanced to his sister, “I bet you’ll have a real pretty shoot.”  
  
She beamed and took her seed from Maya, closing her eyes and making a small prayer before going over to the cleared soil and planting it.  
  
All three children stared, then Gon glanced at Maya, “Mama… why isn’t anything happening?”  
  
“Hrmm…” Maya frowned as she studied it, “Leda. Let’s try something else. Can you form the soil into different shapes?”  
  
Leda blinked, then nodded, “Alright Mama,” she held her hands over the dirt and both her brothers cried out with delight as golden structures began to form.  
  
“Look! Sister made a castle!”

“And a little forest! With animals…”  
  
“I see,” Maya smiled, “Darling, you can shape the stone. You can hear them, can’t you?”  
  
Leda nodded, “They’re my friends. They like Brothers too.”  
  
“…I only hear animals. And they don’t say a lot of interesting stuff,” Tar said, then glanced over at Gon, “Big Brother, can you hear anything?”  
  
He shook his head, “Man! Now I’m jealous of you both!”  
  
“Leda, you’re a healer like Tar is. Just in a different way,” Maya smiled, “Don’t worry Gon, that just means that you’ll have to learn, just like your siblings will have to learn to listen to the other half of their blood. We can all work on it together.”  
  
The three nodded, and she clapped her hands, “But I’m so very proud of all of you! You all three were able to showcase your abilities on the first try! That’s impressive, usually it takes over a year to do so. And, now we can tell where your strengths lie, we can build with that.”  
  
The three children nodded.  
  
“…It’s a bit much to ask, when you haven’t seen much of this world yet, but Azeroth needs us, and she asked us to be her protectors,” Maya took a deep breath, “When this war is over, we can return to the Valley and the Tillers, to the home that we made there.”  
  
“I don’t mind going on an adventure Mama,” Leda said and her brothers nodded, “We’re all together, right? It’s like a big camping trip!”  
  
“Besides, we’ll learn loads of things in Kul Tiras!” Gon added, “And the things that are hurting Azeroth are there.”  
  
“They’re in lots of places,” Tar pointed out, “…But it’s a start at least, right? But why can’t we go dragon…?”

“Because black dragons are still hunted,” Maya said quietly,“Because it’s easier to move as elves, though it is hard to explain why your void tainted tendrils look…” she chuckled, reaching out and fixing Leda’s hair, “Well. Azerite tainted tendrils. I suppose you all wanted to look more like me.”  
  
The three grinned, “Course we did Mama!” Gon said happily, “Cause Papa always said you were the prettiest!”  
  
“Oh he was far handsomer,” she said as she rubbed her cheeks,“Sever was…” she blushed, “I…suppose you remember some conversations we had while you were still in the egg.”  
  
“Are you lonely Mama?” Tar asked quietly.  
  
She blinked, and then looked at the three serious eyes, two sets of storm-grey and one jade-green that stared back at her, waiting for the answer.  
  
“…I suppose I was for a time. But I’m not anymore,” she said gently as she cleaned up the pot and seedlings, “I have my family. And I am so happy to be your mother. Sever would have been so proud of the three of you.”  
  
The three children glanced at each other, then back at her, “Don’t worry Mama,” Leda said happily, “We’ll make lots of friends when we get there. I bet you’ll make some friends too!”  
  
Maya smiled, “I suppose so. We’ll find out in a bit, won’t we?”she stood up, “Alright, that’s enough testing, let’s go out on the deck to get some fresh air.”


	5. Invitation from the Brewer's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An odd note about this AU. Maya's farm is actually the same as Raine's farm, and she acquired Litsu the Elder as her companion in near-exact circumstances.

“An agricultural ambassador?”  
  
Maya ignored the look that the dock worker filing her paperwork was giving her, “Yes. My family and I represent the Tillers, a faction located in the Valley of the Winds in Pandaria. This,” she gestured to the female Pandaren next to her, “Is Litsu Jadesword, she is also a representative of the Tillers. Is there an issue? We merely wished to travel to Stormsong Valley.”  
  
He frowned and looked over his paper, “…no, no problem. It’s just weird. I hadn’t even seen a void elf with kids before, and aren’t you from somewhere else?”

“I assure you, my people do procreate. And I don’t know you well enough to tell you why I live where I do,” Gonen pulled on her arm, and she smiled, “I apologize, I was certain that all my papers were in order…”  
  
“You just forgot to put reason of visit. We can’t just anyone wander into Lord Stormsong’s territory, and the Tillers already have representatives here at market,” he gestured to the stalls in the Tradewinds, “Can’t imagine they haven’t swapped trade secrets already.”  
  
Litsu bowed, “With all due respect, our traders do not have our secrets, they merely issue our wares.”  
  
“…Why  _are_ you here? And don’t give me the runaround about farming secrets,” he glared at both women, “I can give you the name of a nice inn, but you ain’t getting further than the docks and market.”  
  
“But how are we going to invite the Mildenhall to the Brewer’s festival?” Tarkar suddenly said, and then turned bright red at the attention suddenly given to him, “…Sorry Mama, I heard you and Ms. Litsu talking about it…”  
  
Both his siblings just stared at him for a moment, and Maya could nearly  _swear_ they had a private unheard conversation because both Gonen and Leda suddenly grinned for half a second before mirroring the worried look he had, “It’s almost time for the end of harvest contest, and we had mead once when those vrykul came by… they’re coming again, Stormheim brewers’d be hard to beat,” the elder brother said.  
  
“Especially if they don’t have any competition!” their sister agreed, “So Mama and Ms. Litsu came in secret just to invite them,” she placed her hands on her hips and glared at the dock worker, “And you’re RUINING it!”  
  
Maya winced a little, “Children, calm down, he’s just doing his job…” she said, knowing what was coming next. In the very short time since their hatching, the three had gotten into a rather good routine for getting exactly what they wanted from anyone not her or one of their trusted adults.  
  
Leda was  _good_  at summoning tears. And Gonen and Tarkar were  _very_  good at being loud in trying to calm her down. Their tantrums were beginning to become the stuff of legends.  
  
She had hoped to not have to use that, but it seemed the triplets had their own idea of how to get to Stormsong to investigate the feelings of void and the cries of Azeroth.  
  
“Now now children, he can’t help that he can’t think for himself,” Litsu said and Maya resisted the urge to glare at the Pandaren and tell her  _not_  to encourage them, “He has to follow orders.”  
  
“B…but it’s such a GREAT HONOR to be invited, you  _SAID_  so Auntie Tsu!” Leda sniffed, her tantrum in near-full force, her brothers ready to stop her in case it got too out of hand, she had summoned earthquakes before, “An…AND I WANNA SEE THE BEES! And you promised HONEY CAKES TOO!”  
  
Maya very nearly grabbed her and just went to the inn, there had to be a way to get the passes without creating a scene like this, “Leda…” she warned.  
  
“Oh! I was hoping for some company!” a new voice said, and they turned to see the dark haired woman standing behind the dock worker, “I’ll take you to meet the harbormaster to complete your paperwork, alright? And kid, I’ve got plenty of honey cakes! I bet the Mildenhalls are going to be ecstatic, we heard stories of the Brewer’s Festivals here!”  
  
The tantrum stopped mid-sniff, and the triplets grinned as they glanced up at Maya who sighed and smiled gently, “Of course, please lead the way…”  
  
“Oh, call me Taelia! Nice to meet you!”


End file.
